Recent News

September was a busy month for Christine Ritchie! In addition to contributing to an article in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society , Dr. Ritchie was the keynote speaker at the 10th Annual Rocky Mountain Geriatrics Conference in Snowbird, Utah. While in Utah, she headed to Salt Lake City to give a presentation about “Managing illness burden in an era of multimorbidity” for the DOM Grand Rounds at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center.

Eric Widera Published an Article in the American Family Physician

Oct 02, 2012

Eric Widera
published an article in the American Family Physician on grief and depression at the end of life

Sei Lee spoke at the National Advisory Council on Aging

Oct 02, 2012

Dr. Sei Lee, was invited to present his work to the National Advisory Council on Aging in Bethesda, MD on September 19, 2012. His talk, entitled, “Individualizing Prevention for Older Adults” focused on using mortality prediction and the lag-time to benefit to target prevention to those older adults most likely to benefit. The National Advisory Council on Aging advises the Director of the National Institute on Aging and recommends funding for promising research and training applications

Alex Smith Named Beeson Faculty Scholar in Aging Research!

Oct 02, 2012

Alex Smith has been named a Beeson Faculty Scholar in Aging Research! The Beeson Scholars program is an extremely competitive competition that identifies the future leaders of aging research. One of Alex's reviewers noted that "he has the phenotype of an academic superstar." Alex is the 4th Division of Geriatrics Faculty member to be named a Beeson Scholar. He joins Mike Steinman, Sei Lee, and Ken Covinsky.

Congratulations to Alex, Sei, and Mike!

Oct 02, 2012

UCSF was well-represented at the 2012 Annual Beeson Meeting in Washington DC, which promotes careers in aging research of clinically trained individuals. UCSF attendees included 3 Paul Beeson K23 Career Development Awardees from the Geriatrics Division (Alex Smith, Sei Lee, and Mike Steinman), 2 Awardees with homes in other divisions mentored by Geriatrics Division Faculity (Emily Finlayson--Dept of Surgery--and Alison Huang--Division of General Internal Medicine) and the 2 Beeson mentors (Ken Covinsky and Louise Walter) for UCSF awardees.

Davis wins a UCSF Great People Award!

Oct 17, 2012

Congratulations to our very own Ginger Davis for receiving a UCSF Great People Award!!!! The Great People Award recognizes employees whose daily contributions highlight the great diversity of work within the School of Medicine and honors employees whose commitment and values make their jobs a positive experience and the School of Medicine a great place to work.
Ginger is a highly valued member of our team. Her professionalism, willingness to help, and positive attitude are greatly appreciated by all who work with her! Way to go Ginger!!!!

Louise Walter is quoted in the Economist Intelligence Unit report on Preventive Care and Healthy Aging

Oct 17, 2012

Louise Walter, MD is quoted in the Economist Intelligence Unit report on Preventive Care and Healthy Aging (page 10). Louise is quoted that cancer screening should not be a check-box approach but "it’s about trying to figure out
how we can give more appropriate care—and it’s not always the case that more is better."

Edgar Pierluissi is published in the San Francisco Chronicle!

Oct 17, 2012

Edgar Pierlui wrote an article about hospitalization-associated disability appearing in the Health section of the October 10, 2012 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle’s health section.

The NorCal Geriatric Education Center, led by Louise Aronson
and Josette Rivera
, welcomed 17 new learners from medicine, pharmacy, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, psychology and social work, on September 28 for the opening session of our second 160-hour Faulty Development Course entitled “The Challenge of Providing Quality Care for Older Adults: Preparing the Health Professions for the Aging Century”.

Congratulations to Michi!

Oct 30, 2012

Michi Yukawa and her colleague Alayne Markland at University of Alabama had their workshop “Tips on Career Development Awards” accepted to the national meeting of the American Geriatrics Society next year. The workshop will identify strategies and the key components for an effective career development award application for junior investigators and clinician educators pursuing career in aging. Expert senior panel members including Mike Harper
and Ken Covinsky will guide roundtable discussion from a career development award reviewer and mentor perspective. Junior faculty member with career development awards would also be available for questions/comments.

Theresa Allison warded special funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs

Oct 30, 2012

Following a nationally competitive process Theresa Allison was awarded special funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs to start a new geriatrics clinical program at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. The Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE) program will provide in-home, comprehensive geriatric assessments for vulnerable older clinic patients, followed by 6-12 months of case management, with the aim to reduce institutionalization, hospitalization, and emergency department visits.

New Outpatient Geriatrics Consult Clinic Goes Live!

Oct 30, 2012

On October 16 a new outpatient Geriatrics consult clinic went live on the San Francisco General Hospital eReferral system to help primary care providers with geriatric issues. The project is being led by attending Dr. Edgar Pierluissi and research fellow Dr. Anna Chodos, and the implementation and evaluation is partially supported by the Program for the Aging Century. Dr. Margarita Sotelo
will also be attending on the service. The consult service will handle electronic consult questions as well as see patients for consultation one half-day a month at SFGH, and is first available to 2 large primary care clinics, the General Medical Clinic and Family Health Center. The first clinic is October 27.